Uncategorized “We” Is the Most Important Word – William Barber “‘We’ is the most important word in the social justice vocabulary. The issue is not what we can’t do, but what we CAN do when we stand together. With an upsurge in racism/hate crimes, criminalization of young black males, insensitivity to the poor, educational genocide, and the moral/
Uncategorized Listening and Acting In Quaker Communities [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF8PABPq8AA&w=560&h=315] There is so much back and forth on Quaker process. So many jokes. So many who easily dismiss it because it “takes a long time.” And outcomes are all that REALLY matter. (I have plenty of
Featured Why I Am Celebrating World Sketchnote Day #SNday2016! The sketchnoting community is participating in “World Sketchnote Day.” Before I knew about the word “sketchnote” I had some idea of taking notes and thinking visually. I “bumped” into this idea when I was stuck writing my dissertation and didn’t know where to go with it. I had written
Quotations Missing Out of the Orchestra – De Mello I never tire of Jesuit Anthony De Mello’s thoughts and challenges. Here is one that I have been reflecting on recently: Now think of yourself listening to an orchestra in which the sound of the drum is so loud that nothing else can be heard. To enjoy the symphony
Featured Advent, John the Baptist and Preparing for a Break “John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God
Advent Seth Martin on Fireweed and Advent The fireweed flower loves the hurting and dying places. It helps to heal the ground… During Advent, I want to remember that the frozen soil never forgets Spring. I want to never forget the light within, and the reality of Jesus in all life, and live into Heaven here and
Teaching Creating a “Collaborative Syllabus” Using Trello I believe very strongly in creating a participatory learning environment for students but when it comes to creating a syllabus it seems like the only option is to use the standard “banking” model of education (Freire). As the instructor for a course, I lay out specific texts, assignments and themes
Blog Entries Moving Deeper Still: Three Roots of Community How do we go deeper into this community? I have, for most of my life, been someone trying to organize community, bringing people together, and building connections. For a lot of that time, I put emphasis on showing up for one another: presence is key I would say. I got
Blog Entries The Imagined Rebellion – Kierkegaard A revolutionary age is an age of action; ours is the age of advertisement and publicity. Nothing ever happens but there is immediate publicity everywhere. In the present age a rebellion is, of all things, the most unthinkable. Such an expression of strength would seem ridiculous to the calculating intelligence
Uncategorized Connecting Learning to Tradition There is an interesting article on how various people find themselves studying religion in the NY Times today. In the article, they talk about how attaching religious conversation and shared language to a tradition helps create a place to build community and that it is keeping these things connected that
Quotations If God is Love – Peggy Morrison “If God is Love, then all Love is of God. Where Love is—there God is—without exception. If you truly love, or are loved, by anyone, then God is in that relationship, named or unnamed. God touches them through your love. And because God is love, and love is
Featured Love In the Face of Great Odds This is a message I brought to Guilford College’s Quaker Leadership Scholars Program meeting for worship Friday, October 2, 215. A reflection on Luke 6:27-32. This evening I wanted to talk briefly with you about love. I realize picking this topic puts me in danger on falling into
Blog Entries On Solitude and Sabbath “…there was silence in heaven for about a half hour” (Rev. 8:1). Solitude and Sabbath are two realities that overlap and depend upon each other. There is an interdependent relationship between solitude and Sabbath. In order to practice one, we need the other as a part of our lives.
The Cultural Is Cultural Appropriation Always Wrong? A powerful essay on the “co-opting” of minority cultures by Parul Sehgal. This is something I am deeply interested in understanding and observing within “participatory culture,” which often takes part in remixing texts of many kinds. Sehgal’s points are a clear and necessary check on the “fast and loose”
Blog Entries (Untitled) In ‘63 Life Magazine ran a feature article on A. Philip Randolph and Rustin about the March on Washington (8/28/63) which they organized. King and others were worried about Rustin, who was gay, being in the spotlight because he was too much of a “vulnerability.” The “Big Six”
Blog Entries Know On Whose Shoulders We Stand One question I’m getting a lot is about what is my responsibility at Guilford College and what are the things I’d like to see happen. I waffle on both of these fronts. One is because at least some of my responsibilities are still unfolding and being discerned. Others
Featured Obstacles and Opportunities in the Red Sea of Transition (Ex. 14) This is the message I brought to New Garden Friends Meeting on August 30th, 2015. I hope, in the time that we have together, to begin to open up a terrain for all of us in the face of three critical transitions that this NGFM is facing: * The pastoral transition
Blog Entries And today, I say farewell to my beloved church Here is a bit of what we did today as a farewell to our ministry at Camas Friends Church. “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved… Rejoice [Farewell] in the Lord always;
Featured Origin Stories and Midwives of the Spirit (John 3) This is my last prepared message given to Camas Friends Church (June 21, 2015). “Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the
Convergent Friends Convergent Model of Renewal: A Sketchnote Companion and Discussion Guide (Complete) Last night we finished up a six-week discussion at Camas Friends Church on my book. You can purchase “A Convergent Model of Renewal: Remixing the Quaker Tradition in a Participatory Culture” through my publisher Wipf and Stock or on Amazon (it’s more expensive there): “A Convergent Model of Renewal.
Uncategorized Convergent Model of Renewal: Discussion Guide and Sketchnotes (Chapter 3) We are doing a discussion at Camas Friends Church on my book, “A Convergent Model of Renewal.” This week is chapter three, which covers what we can learn from participatory culture. I am posting the sketchnotes and discussion questions here each week for anyone who would like to download them
Uncategorized A Fantastic, Participatory, Quaker Meeting “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer,
Featured A Remixed Church: Adaptation, Legos and Renewal (Isaiah 43:18-19) “Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of
Featured A Blended Family: On The Importance of Difference “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26) “Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled
